Academy of St Martin in the Fields Tickets

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Tickets

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, or ASMF to its loyal fans, has been inspiring new generations of classical musicians around the world since the 1960s. Today, the ASMF remains the most-recorded orchestra on the planet and is making classical music cool with live performances on every continent.

Classical Act

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was formed from a dream team of leading classical musicians in 1959. The group first performed at the church of St. Martin in the Fields at Trafalgar Square in the heart of London. The public immediately and enthusiastically welcomed the vital energy they brought to revived classics. As a result, the ASMF is credited with leading the revival of baroque music in the 1960s.

There are star performers in each of the orchestra's four sections - string, brass, woodwind and percussion. For example, the string section features virtuoso performances by Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated violinists of the modern era. Since 2000, master conductor and pianist, Murray Perahia, has led the orchestra.

Mozart and Movie Soundtracks

For many fans outside of England, the movie forever associated with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is 1984's Oscar-winning Amadeus. This was their breakout success and the movie's soundtrack became their best-selling album of all time. This film, based on a play about the life of Mozart, depended on an orchestra that could represent his music in all of its madness and terrible beauty. After that, ASMF became regulars on Hollywood soundtracks, sometimes as the full orchestra, but also in pieces as smaller chamber orchestras and breakout quartets.

The ASMF returned to Hollywood for the soundtrack to The English Patient in 1996. That's also the year that their performance of an original score by Gabriel Yared won an Oscar, a Grammy, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.

Best-Known Works

Apart from Amadeus and their other movie soundtracks, the orchestra's best-selling album so far has been their interpretation of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" from 2006. The ASMF has an extensive catalog of music, covering periods from medieval to contemporary composers and styles from Baroque to operatic.

The Live Experience

Even the highest possible fidelity can't capture the richness of sound from the ASMF brass section or the soaring heights of their strings. If you want to hear the music of the masters as they intended it to be heard, it's worth every penny to grab Academy of St. Martin in the Fields tickets wherever they are playing. If you are really lucky you will be able to hear ASMF perform at the second home -- the Royal Albert Hall in London, where the acoustics are just phenomenal.

If You Love ASMF, Try These

Classical music demands talented performers at the top of their game. If you want to experience high fidelity instrumental music and orchestral musicians playing some of the best music ever composed, look into tickets to see the Classical Spectacular or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.